Wrist injury forces Tamim to skip Galle Test

Tamim Iqbal was forced to sit out of the first Test against Sri Lanka due to the wrist injury he picked up at the Bangladesh Premier League, despite the cortisone injection he received in a bid to get match fit.

That meant Tamim missed his first Test in 27 games since debuting five years ago. It was also the first time that Bangladesh have played a Test without him or Shakib Al Hasan since Kandy in 2007.

"Unfortunately even after the cortisone injection into his joint [radial ulnar], he still had some pain and felt unprepared for the first Test," BCB physio Vibhav Singh said. "Tamim had consulted with Dr David Young in Sri Lanka, who advised for further management of his injury."

Vibhav Singh is hopeful that he will recover before the Colombo Test, which begins on March 16. "We are working towards getting him fit for the second Test, and we are hopeful that he will recover sufficiently [in time for that]."

The other injury setback Bangladesh faced was that of Rubel Hossain, who had picked up back trouble earlier on this tour. Rubel did not train on Thursday either, but it was hoped that he would be ready to take the field come match day. This forced Bangladesh to ultimately make six changes to the team that played against West Indies three months ago.

"Rubel has been presented with severe back muscle spasms," Vibhav Singh said. "He missed practice to allow for [his injury] to settle, but failed his fitness test this morning."